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Advocates say CRF closures and voucher policies have shrunk housing options for adults with serious mental illness
Summary
Disability advocates and the Long‑Term Care Ombudsman told the Committee on Health that community residential facility (CRF) capacity and placements have declined in recent years, leaving some adults with serious mental illness without appropriate housing and increasing reliance on nursing homes and out‑of‑state placements.
Several witnesses described a shrinking continuum of housing for adults with serious mental illness. Jacqueline Ferner of Disability Rights DC said DBH’s own data show roughly a 21% decline in bed capacity from 2018 to 2025 and that DBH now provides “over 400 less housing placements” for consumers compared with the period when the Dixon consent order guided some housing development. Ferner warned that closures of CRFs and the lack of physically accessible settings are contributing to unnecessary institutionalization.
Nicole Balanus, the DC Long‑Term Care Ombudsman Specialist, gave case examples of residents displaced by closures and said the number of supported rehabilitative residence (SRR) beds fell from 201 in 2022 to 167 in 2026; she reported multiple facilities had announced closures and urged the Committee and DBH to develop a long‑term plan for sustainable housing options. Committee members asked DBH to participate in a March roundtable on CRF closures and to explain financial or reimbursement drivers behind operators’ decisions to close.
